Eurasia

Romania said Thursday that 100,000 jobs in the public sector will be slashed as the government makes budget cuts to meet foreign loan targets and keep the economy afloat. Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu made the announcement as lawmakers debate this year’s budget, which is crucial for unlocking an International Monetary …

On Monday, January 18, the Greek trade unions will make the final decision whether the borders will be blocked. This is the latest information, Bulgarian consul general in Thessaloniki Lachezar Ivanov said. On the one hand, there are worries the protestors’ blockade could be declared illegal and the police could …

Bosniak political leaders in Serbia are increasingly concerned that a new law on regional reorganisation will divide their six Sandzak municipalities into two, thereby dilute their minority rights and undermine their attempts to develop in synch as a region. They argue that dividing their municipalities into two rather than one …

Skopje is testng the waters with a three phase solution for the long lasting “name” row with Athens that would unlock country’s EU and NATO accession aspirations, local media report on Thursday. The new proposal for solving the row which recently came from Macedonian legislator Pavle Trajanov is in fact …

Croatia and Slovenia are ready to resolve outstanding issues blocking Zagreb’s EU membership talks, the prime ministers of the two countries Jadranka Kosor and Borut Pahor respectively said after meeting on Wednesday. “It is my wish that we resolve at least two of the three open issues prior to the …

Dragan Jokic, sentenced for crimes committed in Srebrenica in 1995, should be released from prison in Austria by mid February, while seven former high ranking military and police officers await their verdict for crimes committed in the Bosnian Serb enclave. The decision to release Jokic was made by the International …

As Jewish and Roma officials win a major victory in Strasbourg against Bosnian constitutional discrimination, which should pave the way for the ‘Others’ to participate in government, recent history indicates that the Court’s decision is unlikely to be implemented, Anes Alic writes for ISN Security Watch. The European Court of …

UN Special Envoy for Cyprus Alexander Downer said on Tuesday (January 12th) that he is satisfied with intensified talks on reunification that began this week between Cypriot President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat. “We are happy with the way the two leaders are conducting the negotiations,” …

Great Britain and Hungary want Macedonia to join EU and NATO, support setting a date for accession talks with EU and hope Macedonia to find an acceptable name solution, British Foreign Minister David Miliband and Hungarian President László Sólyom said in their letters send to Macedonia President Gjorgje Ivanov.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she does not have much hope for a quick European Union accession for Bosnia-Herzegovina. After meeting with Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency head Željko Komšić in Berlin, she said that “a very long road” is ahead of Bosnia towards EU membership. Without changes to the Constitution, which …